Khan sat nearby Brook as the Brits watched Tony Bellew take on Oleksandr Usyk in the last fight of his career on November 10 at Manchester Arena.

The pair had been undergoing talks through their promoter Eddie Hearn, seeking to shake hands on a huge domestic bout.

British boxing fans have been longing for a Khan vs Brook match-up for years, and progress was made this year when Khan signed with Hearn’s promotional company Matchroom Sport.

Brook reluctantly agreed to cut down to welterweight in order to make the fight, but Khan’s wish of a rehydration clause was deemed one stipulation too far by the naturally-bigger Yorkshireman.

As a result of the stalled talks, Brook was lined up a fight against Michael Zerafa, who he faces in Sheffield tonight after nine months out of the ring.

Amid protracted negotiations, Khan and Brook have exchanged some choice words on Twitter, but Khan claimed that their chat at Usyk vs Bellew last month was reasonably amicable in comparison.

“I said to him: ‘If you want the fight we need to talk, and you need to sit down with me. Let’s make the fight happen,’” Khan told Express Sport.

“This is before the offer came from another fighter. So I was happy to do everything then, but he was playing games.

As for Khan’s rivalry with Brook, the former super lightweight world champions claims he does not feel any real animosity towards the 32-year-old.

“He’s talking sh*t on Twitter but never face-to-face,” Khan adds.

“He sh*ts himself a little bit. I don’t have a problem with him, I just think the guy is a bit confused.”

Khan has decided to dodge the opportunity to analyse his potential opponent in the flesh because it is his birthday.

Now 32 years old, Khan said of the fight: “I’m not going to be going there – it’s my birthday on that day. I’m always on the go as well… I’m usually away in training camp so I thought: ‘Why don’t I spend it with my parents?’

“If it wasn’t my birthday then I probably would have gone. Sky have messaged me if I liked to work on it, so I didn’t respond back. I text [head of Sky Sports Boxing] Adam Smith: ‘What date is it?’ Just to let him click on.

“I’ll watch it, obviously, I’ll watch it. I’m a boxing fan as well, it’s always good to see who you might be fighting next. So I’ll watch and break it down a bit myself.”